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Anton du Beke
Anthony Paul Beke '''(born July 20, 1966), known professionally as '''Anton du Beke, is a English ballroom dancer and television presenter, best known as a professional dancer on the BBC One dance series Strictly Come Dancing. In 2009, he presented the UK version of Hole in the Wall, for the BBC, replacing Dale Winton after being a team captain in 2008. His professional dance partner since 1997 has been Erin Boag. Early Life Beke was born in Sevenoaks, Kent to a Hungarian father, Antal Xavier Beke (1939-2001) and a Spanish mother Ascension Lema. He has two younger siblings. He attended Wildernesse School in Sevenoaks. Beke began dancing at age 10, when he discovered his local dance school, the Holton School of Dancing in Sevenoaks, and took his first dancing exam in June 1978. The school was run by Beryl Holton together with her mother Velda and later with her husband Stephen Turner. He started competitive dancing a few years later. He had three partners during these formative years before the Holton School of Dancing closed in 1987 when Beryl and Stephen Turner moved with his banking career to Dorset. Beke left school at 16 to follow an amateur dancing career. At 17 he decided to specialise in ballroom. Whilst he danced during the evenings and at weekends he had a day job as a salesman in "The Bed Post" in Petts Wood, South London where he was known as Tony Beke. Career In March 2007 Beke was a contestant on the BBC Two series The Underdog Show and was paired with homeless dog Ginger, they were eliminated in week three of the competition. Beke has presented the BBC cookery show Step Up to the Plate. He served as a captain and from Series 2 the host on the UK version of Hole in the Wall, which premiered on September 20, 2008 on BBC One. On December 24, 2009, he appeared in Victoria Wood's Midlife Christmas, in a sketch called "Beyond The Marigolds", where he spoofed his Strictly Come Dancing role by being paired with fictional soap star "Bo Beaumont" (played by Julie Walters). Beaumont quit the show when unable to master Beke's warm up steps. During the week of May 5 to 9, 2014, Beke appeared on Channel 4 game show Draw It!. In 2011 Beke won the Rear of the Year award. Personal Life Beke lives in Buckinghamshire with wife Hannah Summers. In November 2016 the couple announced they were expecting twins, due in Spring 2017. On March 30, 2017, his son and daughter were born, announced with an Instagram post. Bibliography Beke has released a book called Anton's Dance Class (published by Kyle Cathie, London, 2007, ISBN 1-85626-731-8), which has been serialised in the Mail on Sunday. Beke's A-Z on Ballroom Dancing, B is for Ballroom (published by Constable, London, 2012, ISBN 978-1-47210-068-9) is also now available. Philanthrophy Beke is an honorary patron of The Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America. Strictly Come Dancing He has appeared on all fourteen series of the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing. In more recent years, a running joke has been that Beke is always partnered with the poorer dancers, who often score very low marks. In the first series, he danced with singer Lesley Garrett and finished in third place. For the second series, he partnered presenter Esther Rantzen; they were eliminated in the third week. He danced with actress Patsy Palmer for the third series and finished in fifth place. In the fourth series, he danced with actress and impressionist Jan Ravens but was eliminated in week 5 of the competition. His partner for the fifth series was TV presenter Kate Garraway; the couple were voted out in week 7. His partner for the sixth series was actress Gillian Taylforth; the couple were voted out in week 2. In Series 7, he was partnered with Laila Rouass. Together, they made it to week 12. In Series 8, he partnered Conservative politician Ann Widdecombe and had made it through to week 10. For its ninth series, Nancy Dell'Olio was Anton's partner, the couple were eliminated in week 5. His partner for the tenth series was model and actress Jerry Hall. They were eliminated in week 3. His partner for Series 11 was actress Fiona Fullerton and they were eliminated in week 8 in Blackpool. For the show's twelfth series, his partner was tennis coach Judy Murray and they were eliminated in week 8 in Blackpool. For Series 13, Beke was partnered with newscaster and presenter Katie Derham and they made it to Beke's first final in all 13 series and were eliminated in fourth place. In Series 14, Beke was partnered with actress, Lesley Joseph. Beke has also appeared on a number of Children in Need and Christmas Special's of Strictly Come Dancing. In 2008 he won the Children in Need 2008 special dancing an American Smooth with Tess Daly. He danced once again with Ann Widdecombe in the 2012 Children in Need special but lost out to Russell Grant and Flavia Cacace. He did however go on to win the Children in Need 2014 special where he and fellow dancer Natalie Lowe taught a group of children how to dance. Beke has also reprised his partnership with Lesley Garrett for the 2004 Christmas special. He has also danced with Ronni Ancona, Su Pollard, Katy Brand and Denise Lewis in the respective 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2016 Christmas specials. In 2015 Beke served as a judge on The People's Strictly, a one off version of the show where non-celebrities compete for the charity Comic Relief. 'Partners' *Lesley Garrett (Series 1) - 3rd Place *Esther Rantzen (Series 2) - 8th Place *Patsy Palmer (Series 3) - 5th Place *Jan Ravens (Series 4) - 9th Place *Kate Garraway (Series 5) - 9th Place *Gillian Taylforth (Series 6) - 15th Place *Laila Rouass (Series 7) - 4th Place *Ann Widdecombe (Series 8) - 6th Place *Nancy Dell'Olio (Series 9) - 11th Place *Jerry Hall (Series 10) - 13th Place *Fiona Fullerton (Series 11) - 9th Place *Judy Murray (Series 12) - 9th Place *Katie Derham (Series 13) - 4th Place *Lesley Joseph (Series 14) - 11th Place 'Couples' *Lesley Garrett and Anton du Beke *Esther Rantzen and Anton du Beke *Patsy Palmer and Anton du Beke *Jan Ravens and Anton du Beke *Kate Garraway and Anton du Beke *Gillian Taylforth and Anton du Beke *Laila Rouass and Anton du Beke *Ann Widdecombe and Anton du Beke *Nancy Dell'Olio and Anton du Beke *Jerry Hall and Anton du Beke *Fiona Fullerton and Anton du Beke *Judy Murray and Anton du Beke *Katie Derham and Anton du Beke *Lesley Joseph and Anton du Beke Category:Professional Dancers Category:Male Professional Dancers Category:Series 1 Category:Series 2 Category:Series 3 Category:Series 4 Category:Series 5 Category:Series 6 Category:Series 7 Category:Series 8 Category:Series 9 Category:Series 10 Category:Series 11 Category:Series 12 Category:Series 13 Category:Series 14